Lost Generation, wow sucks to be young today.

[jprad]

Quote from Mayhem:

Some served. Most got high. Then, they turned into the "Me" generation and brought us leisure suits, latchkey kids, swinging, AIDS, cocaine, Three's Company, 80's excess, power ties, the tech and housing bubbles, and now massive, massive, massive public debt as they are retiring, and they want to ride this gravy train until the wheels fall off.

Your rhetoric sounds good, but like a Twinkee, it's got no redeeming substance once one takes the time to look inside.

That "massive, massive public debt" you're railing against has it's roots in a Republican president, a fossil, and decidedly unboomer the day he was inaugurated. In fact, the horse was out of barn for well over a decade by the time the first "boomer" president took office.

Worse, this all started while most boomers were still in school and a democratic president decided to thrust his "Great Society" on us.

But, all that, as well as the "New Deal," confiscating all our gold and taking us off the gold standard were all made possible because of the one flaw that exists in the US Constitution -- the flaw that was also Jefferson's greatest regret, the lack of an amendment prohibiting the federal government from borrowing money to fund it's operation.

 

[Mayhem]

Quote from jprad:

Worse, this all started while most boomers were still in school and a democratic president decided to thrust his "Great Society" on us.

Eh, I contend that this all started when Peter Stuyvesant ceded New Amsterdam to the English in 1664 who renamed the colony, "New York." Stuyvesant should have at least put up a fight.

But, that's neither here nor there. Others blame the Kennedys and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965:

http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc_19_1/tsc_19_1_canellos.shtml

My point is, you can always go back in time and point to "the cause" of current situations. My bottom line is that the Baby Boomers represent a huge demographic bubble. They are a generation that, IMO, is self-centered, and prone to seek short-term pleasure over long-term planning and sacrifice. They are a huge voting block that is going to consistently vote for their self-interests with minimal regard for what happens to subsequent generations.

All this "fair share from the wealthy" talk is just opening act in a long campaign that will see taxes for everyone go up in order to pay for comfortable retirements of the Baby Boomers. First they will come for "the wealthy" and when that doesn't meet their needs, they will demand their "fair share" from the middle and working classes too.

If you have significant long-term capital gains, then keep your eye on the ball and be ready to recognize those gains on short notice. The politicians have to keep the preferential tax rate for capital gains in place so long as the Boomers are still liquidating and recognizing their capital gains. When enough Boomers have recognized their capital gains at the preferential tax rate, they are going to eliminate the preferential tax rate for long-term capital gains. Their argument is going to be that everyone has to pay their "fair share" for roads and bridges... but we all know all that tax money is going to go mainly for entitlements for the Baby Boom generation.l

 

[DIce]

Meh, it's not bad at all. You just gotta not be a fool and go get a useful degree. There is something like 100,000 unfilled engineering jobs in the Western world (mostly USA and Germany) according to an article I read a few days ago, and no one to fill them with. I graduated from my masters in aerospace engineering in June and had a job lined up right away, and so did everyone else I graduated with, all paying well.

There are plenty of opportunities out there for young people.

 

[ashatet]

Quote from athlonmank8:

The lack of engineers has fucked us.

There are so few people out there with actual talent that can perform complex R&D it's also not even funny (engineers).

Subsidize engineering.

and whatever engineers we do have are leaving the profession. It sucks to be an engineer, since you are ruled by these bozo managers who have some stupid MBA. Many engineers I know have quit the field and went to work on the WS.

 

[lindq]

My point is, you can always go back in time and point to "the cause" of current situations. My bottom line is that the Baby Boomers represent a huge demographic bubble. They are a generation that, IMO, is self-centered, and prone to seek short-term pleasure over long-term planning and sacrifice.
[/B]

The thought that an entire generation is responsible for the ills of another is beyond stupid.

Americans in the boomer age bracket are suffering through this recession as much, if not more so, than others.

Facing retirement and old age with savings accounts that have been crushed, home values that have been destroyed, and lack of income generating investments is no picnic.

 

[achilles28]

Quote from Mayhem:



If you have significant long-term capital gains, then keep your eye on the ball and be ready to recognize those gains on short notice. The politicians have to keep the preferential tax rate for capital gains in place so long as the Boomers are still liquidating and recognizing their capital gains. When enough Boomers have recognized their capital gains at the preferential tax rate, they are going to eliminate the preferential tax rate for long-term capital gains. Their argument is going to be that everyone has to pay their "fair share" for roads and bridges... but we all know all that tax money is going to go mainly for entitlements for the Baby Boom generation.l

Thing is, the pie is fixed in the short term. Robbing Peter to pay for Irenes hip replacement leaves Peter broke out on the street. There's only so much money to go around. Global wage arbitrage, "structural" unemployment and reiterative bubbles have left us in quite a mess. Can't squeeze water from a rock. I think taxation is the least of our problems. Once the debt hits Greek levels (~4 years), the economy flatlines. We could be months away from a global collapse, depending how long Central Bankers continue this charade. Paper assets are just an illusion now. Shortly, the limitations of our fiat fractional reserve money system will be hit, and then we print or die. The specter of higher taxes is just a political distraction for the idiot voters who *think* we can tax our way out of this mess. We can't. The whole thing is structural. The jobs are gone, the dollar has been destroyed, along with it, a whole shitload of private capital. "Taxing" won't accomplish squat except chase out what little capital we have left. Obamas grandiose plan to tax the rich shaves off less than 8% from the deficit. This is all pure window dressing. Nobody wants to risk re-election, so we get nothing but half measures and rhetoric. The market will vote like it did on Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. When it does, that's it. Game over. Everything goes broke, in short order. And then all the useless fuckers will riot in the streets and we'll get some type of martial law plus capital controls, plus a FTT to punish the speculators who "crashed the dollar". It's all predictable. Social Security is bankrupt. Medicare is close to bankruptcy. It's all a pyramid scheme based on current revenues. In a severe Depression (inflationary or deflationary), revenues (or purchasing power) dry up. Gone.... LOL

 

[AKUMATOTENSHI]

Quote from ashatet:

and whatever engineers we do have are leaving the profession. It sucks to be an engineer, since you are ruled by these bozo managers who have some stupid MBA. Many engineers I know have quit the field and went to work on the WS.

You got it I like to call them F.O.S. The whole culture of the "Paradigm shift" and other over used corperate buzz words that are akin to an evangenical kool aid party. People with hard science to back thier statements up will leave. They have skills and drive and will only tolerate nonsense for so long.
The lost generation will have next to nothing to rebuild a nation with. There income means are diminshing, the debt is rising, the skills are dulling. Times are only going to get tougher. I had to explain to someone today that is in that demographic that the service sector is growing and ideas and concepts do not make money. Physical stuff does. When a widget goes from one entity to another that is real commerce. That is when money is made tax is made. The rose colored glasses will not work forever. When other nations start surpasing in noticable metrics the system will have to correct it self. I fear for their future they do not have a compeditive edge.

Akuma

 

[jprad]

Quote from Mayhem:

My bottom line is that the Baby Boomers represent a huge demographic bubble. They are a generation that, IMO, is self-centered, and prone to seek short-term pleasure over long-term planning and sacrifice. They are a huge voting block that is going to consistently vote for their self-interests with minimal regard for what happens to subsequent generations.

All this "fair share from the wealthy" talk is just opening act in a long campaign that will see taxes for everyone go up in order to pay for comfortable retirements of the Baby Boomers.

"Comfortable retirement?"

The sad reality is that 6 out of 10 boomers are going to have to work right up to the day they drop dead because they have no retirement savings.

Of course, someone such as yourself, who's blind with generational hatred is going to lay the blame for this at the boomers feet.

The only thing I can say to that is that I hope you live long enough to experience that same hatred being directed at your demographic...

 

[budcampbell]

More than likely "let the good times roll" is ending for all, including the boomers. As in any demographic, there are the minority who saved, were prudent and avoided mistakes and the vissitudes of life, such as divorce, and will fare relatively well.

Pensions are what is at risk. What was once sacred, looks shaky. And, if I were a boomer, dependent on a big fat monthly check, I would be worried.

 

[jprad]

Quote from budcampbell:

Pensions are what is at risk. What was once sacred, looks shaky. And, if I were a boomer, dependent on a big fat monthly check, I would be worried.

I forget where I read it but, in the early 80's close to 40% of the workforce had a pension. Today that number is around 15% due to companies freezing/dropping their plans and replacing them with 401k plans over the past 30 years.

So, when the public sector employees find out their pension plan is bankrupt they'll be in good company.